Essex 10/23

The Beautification Committee thanks all who made their recent luncheon a big success, especially the cooks, bakers, diners and clean-up crew. Money raised this fall will help pay for next year's flowers.

Pickup trucks parked along the edges of fields and in farm lanes indicate another hunting season has started. Right now we're in muzzleloading season, where the only legal gun to use, either rifle or pistol, fires a single shot loaded through the muzzle. Deer are the principal interest, although black bears can also be taken. The regular rifle season opens this Saturday, Oct. 23, and runs to Sunday, Dec. 5, followed by another week of muzzleloader hunting. Muzzleloaders don't shoot nearly as far as a regular rifle, and you basically get one chance. Rifles, on the other hand, can be semi-automatic, which means you fire a bullet every time you pull the trigger. Amy and I wear orange vests and hats when we're out walking, and Ginny has an orange cape she's quite proud of. The season is also open for rabbits, squirrels, pheasant and ruffed grouse. You'll have to wait till May to hunt turkeys.

Last Friday's wind and rain storm demonstrated the fearsome power of a giant nor'easter. I love a good storm, and having hit during daylight was a real bonus. I was in downtown Essex when a car came off the ferry with its hood pushed in. The driver said he was parked at the front of the boat when a wave broke over the bow and smashed down on his car. The ferry stopped running after that incident. Out in the lake, huge waves were breaking which the wind whipped into a kind of fog. Waves hitting rocky points shot up huge plumes of spray that hung in the air before crashing down. At Whallons Bay ocean-like rollers were breaking, and a lone sailboat was tossed mercilessly. I'd never seen this sort of violence on the lake, and neither had a lot of other locals. All in all, it was a delightful afternoon.